Summary: We have a great gift, what are we doing with it?

• Freedom. It is never free. For some reason freedom is something that has to be fought for.

• For freedom to be experienced, blood has to be shed. In the world there are always people, groups, and governments who want to make sure you lose your freedom.

• Satan himself does all he can to make sure you are not free.

• The freedoms we enjoy in this country were for fought and died for, much blood was spilled, the freedom from sin that we can enjoy has also been fought and died for, and precious blood was shed for it.

• Freedom came from people being willing to sacrifice it all!

• Fifty-six men signed the Declaration of Independence. Their conviction resulted in untold sufferings for themselves and their families.

• Of the 56 men, five were captured by the British and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.

• The true freedom that you can enjoy was purchased by the sacrificial death and subsequent resurrection of Jesus!

• My prayer this morning is this, I want ALL of us to understand that the FREEDOM we enjoy as a nation and the freedom we enjoy in Jesus is a GIFT!

• Our gift comes with responsibility. We owe it to those who have sacrificed and died for our freedom to understand that freedom was not free and that freedom comes with responsibility.

• In our country we have been given freedom, the problem our country is having is that we have forgotten that with freedom comes responsibility.

• The Founding Fathers understood that how a person uses their liberty or freedom will determine how well the nation would function.

• Galatians 5:13–15 (ESV) 13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

• SLIDE #3

SERMON

I. What is this gift?

• SLIDE #4

• Galatians 5:1 (ESV) 5 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

• Do you think the world thinks when a person gives their life to Jesus that they are free?

• Does the world think that our lives are about a bunch of “you cannot do that” rules?

• The bible makes it clear that we were called to FREEDOM!

• WHAT IS FREEDOM?

• In Greek philosophy Plato taught that freedom was defined as “to be at ones own disposal.” THIS WAS IN CONTRAST TO A SLAVE.

• The dictionary defines Freedom as, “a state in which somebody is able to act and live as he or she chooses, without being subject to any undue restraints or restrictions”

• The gift that we have is freedom, BUT freedom is not an absence of responsibility.

• Some think that freedom means that you can do what you want, but that is not freedom.

• Our gift authorizes believers to lay claim to their freedom, and It challenges believers to use their freedom responsibly.

• Paul begins by explaining our calling: we are called to (freedom) liberty. The Christian is a free man. He is free from the guilt of sin because he has experienced God’s forgiveness.

• He is free from the penalty of sin because Christ died for him on the cross. And he is, through the Spirit, free from the power of sin in his daily life. He is also free from the Law with its demands and threats.

• Christ bore the curse of the Law and ended its tyranny once and for all. We are “called unto liberty” because we are “called into the grace of Christ

• John 8:31–32 (ESV) 31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

• Notice the implication and responsibility that comes with freedom.

• Our freedom is something that we can use for God and his kingdom, or it is something that we can abuse and use for our own selfish benefit. We can take the freedom that we have and use it as a license or turn it into legalism.